By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Hernandez was this past weekend and featured some exciting fights and finishes. Who won and who lost?
Let’s get to the rundown.
UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Hernandez
GOOD- Zachary Reese vs. Michel Pereira
They start off trading strikes until Pereira drops Reese. Pereira gets
hit lo on two separate occasions. No point is deducted, not even for the second foul. -sigh- They spend the rest of the first round nailing
each other and Pereira gets a takedown before the bell rings. The
second round begins with Reese doing the Palpatine and poking Pereira
in the eye. Despite this being his third foul on top of being blatant,
no points are taken. Come on… Reese gets a takedown but Pereira is
quickly back up and they spend the rest of the second round trading strikes. The third round starts with the fighters trading kicks until
Reese is warned to keep his hands closed. That’s ridiculous. They
spend the rest of the fight swinging at each other. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Pereira wins the Split Decision to improve to 32-14 with 2 No Contests
and snaps his 3 fight losing streak while Reese drops to 10-2 with 1 No Contest. Good win for Pereira.
GOOD- Jacobe Smith stops Josiah Harrell
They trade a few strikes before Smith gets a takedown, though Harrell
is quickly back up. Smith lands a few strikes to get another takedown
but Harrell is again quickly back to his feet. Now Harrell gets a takedown but Smith quickly reverses into top position and unloads a
torrent of elbows and punches to knock Harrell out. A lot of unnecessary shots are landed before the referee can stop the fight
three minutes into the first round. And even some after the referee jumped in. Definitely not a fan of that.
Smith improves to a perfect 12-0 while Harrell drops to 11-1. Good win for Smith.
GOOD- Serghei Spivac vs. Ante Delija
They’re both having good success with their jabs. Spivac has busted
Delija open. The second round begins with more of the same, as both men work their jab while mixing in other strikes. They fight on the
fence for a while but it seems like Delija has the advantage for more
of this round. The third round starts with Spivac landing a leg kick in what has been a boxing match so far. Spivac gets a takedown and
lands some combinations when they stand and the fight ends. We go to
the judges to render their verdict.
Spivac wins the decision to improve to 18-6 while Delija drops to 26-8. Good win for Spivac.
GOOD- Melquizael Costa stops Dan Ige
Ige gets a quick takedown but Costa is quickly back to his feet. Costa
lands some hard knees to the body then some good kicks that stagger
Ige. Costa smashes Ige with a spinning back kick to the jaw that drops him. Costa unloads with punches to force the referee to jump in to
stop the fight with seconds remaining in the first round. Costa is the first person to finish Ige in thirty fights. Wow.
Costa improves to 26-7 and has won 6 straight fights while Ige drops to 19-11. Good win for Costa.
GOOD- Uros Medic stops Geoff Neal
Neal is using jabs early, as Medic uses kicks to keep his distance.
Suddenly, they decide to just stand and trade and the fireworks begin.
Medic crushes Neal with a devastating left hook and this fight is over
about eighty seconds into the first round. Wow.
Medic improves to 13-3 and has won 3 straight fights while Neal drops to 16-8. Good win for Medic.
GOOD- Sean Strickland stops Anthony Hernandez
Both men are using their jab a lot but some good combinations are
getting through. The second round begins with kicks before the fighters return to jabbing. Strickland is having a lot of success with
his striking, while Hernandez has to work for his. Hernandez is
landing well, though, but he’s absorbing more than he’s hitting with.
The third round starts with Hernandez being more aggressive.
Strickland’s volume and movement is his response and it’s a pretty effective one. Strickland traps Hernandez against the fence and starts
unloading on him, dropping him with a series of powerful uppercuts.
Strickland pours it on and the referee has to jump in to stop the fight about halfway through the third round.
Strickland improves to 30-7 while Hernandez drops to 15-3 with 1 No
Contest and has his 8 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Strickland.
*************
It was announced last week that Ronda Rousey (12-2) would be fighting
Gina Carano (7-1) in a MMA fight on May 16, 2026 on Netflix. It’s been
many years for both of them since they last fought so it’s hard to say
how they’ll look. I’ll have more to say as the fight approaches but I
wish them both good health.
If you’re a collector (action figures, statues, comics, cards, and
more), you should check out
Nibble on the Toyrat website!
It’s an amazing experience that allows you to catalog your own collection, search for items you want (across multiple storefronts!),
and buy/sell items with other users! You can even create and order your own custom toys!
It’s an incredible tool that you can use and there’s so much more I haven’t even mentioned. I would highly recommend that anyone
interested in collecting should join. Thank you.
My new epic fantasy book is out. It’s called Kingdom of Zarias: The End’s
Beginning. The exciting epic fantasy series Kingdom of Zarias returns with the 4th book in the series. After the harrowing events of
Book 3 the residents of the Kingdom of Zarias continue on their paths.
Serena Summers continues to learn and grow as a fighter, desperately
seeking to become stronger before she loses anyone else in her life.
Daniel Summers discovers new parts of the world that open his eyes to
just how little he truly knows. A new hero, Lamar Abeers, arrives to join the fight against evil. Plus, Zach Summers, Tiana Highsmith, and
Xavien Ekens continue their journeys with their friends, and a new ruler of Vhaharen is crowned. The world has found a little peace.
However, that peace is only temporary. In a shocking act of violence,
the monstrous villain Galren strikes from the shadows and changes the
world forever. This is Book 4 in the series. There’s lots of action, magic, and monsters in the Kingdom of Zarias. It’s like a tabletop
game in novel form. It’s on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many other
places. If you’re interested, I would greatly appreciate it if you would check it out and support me. Thank you very much, have a good
day.
Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at
hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank.
Also, please check out the new comics I’m releasing under my 3P Comics
label on GlobalComix and Gumroad, the first being The Adventures of
Tantalum & Saiko No Joo! and the second being Cerulean. Thanks for
reading and have a good day.